BE BOLD: A Flag Dresser Transformation {with Country Chic Paint}

I am pretty excited to share my Be Bold Project with you today: a Flag Dresser Transformation using Country Chic Chalk Paint.

A few weeks ago I shared with you about the Be Bold Challenge that I am taking part in with an amazing group of bloggers. The philosophy of the challenge is for us to push ourselves out of our comfort zones and do something that we may normally not try because of the fear of failure or of making a mistake. It doesn’t have to mean a BOLD design – just confronting our fears, being bold, and pushing past our safety net.

Each of us are sharing our projects this week and then will get back together this coming Monday to share all the projects as well as to offer you the chance to share your projects during a Be Bold Challenge Link Up. I’ll share some more about that later. For now…

This dresser has a story to tell.

Imagine the scene.

A cool, drizzly, Saturday morning late last spring.

Dear hubby and the boys take me to an eye dr. appointment at which I am given eye drops that render me unable to drive. Yet upon leaving I spot a rogue ‘garage sale’ sign at the end of the road. Call it a magic sight, if you will.

I beg and beg until hubby stops.

It isn’t much of a garage sale but through my bleary vision I spot this diamond-in-the-rough that the seller has used as a makeshift table to display his wares. I inquire about it. How much? I ask. Ten bucks.

I said 10. Bucks.

Dressers don’t generally fit into the trunk of a car so we have ourselves a moderate issue.

I call my Dad to bring his truck to immediately pick it up. Panic sets in as I imagine a scene where the seller discovers that he has just sold me the equivalent of the Mona Lisa for $1. My heart is pounding; sweat covers my palms.

Alas, my Dad arrives and all is well; we sweep the dresser away before the seller can discover what he has lost. How thrilled am I? It is dresser love.

Okay, so honestly… it needed some serious work. But I loved the lines of it. A classic waterfall. So pretty.

When Country Chic Paint offered me a test run of their fabulous new paint line I knew I had the perfect project.

The dresser. For our boys’ room redo.

And I knew I wanted to try out a fun design.

I was hankering after all the Union Jack dressers I have seen on Pinterest but my Father-in-law suggested something a little more personal; a little closer to home. Iceland. My Dad’s whole family is of Icelandic heritage. Our oldest son’s name is Leif. So what a perfect tribute to the boys’ heritage. Iceland it was.

I started with a good sanding to remove some of the old original finish and then used a damp cloth to thoroughly clean all the dust.

This was followed by two coats of Country Chic Chalk Paint in Midnight Sky. It looked quite purple in the can but turned into a stunning dark blue (think: Midnight Sky) when it dried.

Beauty. I can’t describe how nice the Country Chic Paint is to use. So smooth. It paints on like butta.

After the blue base coats were dry I measured and used a pencil and ruler to trace the thick white lines of the flag cross. I taped these lines out and used Frog Tape to tape out the shape. I chose the yellow frog tape for delicate and newly painted surfaces. Three coats of Simplicity (the white). I let it dry overnight. Then I measured and used the same Frog Tape to tape the inside part of the cross. Three coats of Devotion (the red). Let dry overnight.

I was thrilled with how it came out. I didn’t choose to do any distressing on this piece but I can’t wait to try the wet-distressing that I have read about on the Country Chic site. For this piece I was thrilled with the bold solid colors of the flag. And the chalky finish works perfectly with the vintage shape and feel of the dresser.

After letting it dry overnight I used clear wax. Next time I would love to try using a real wax brush. I bought some ‘lint free’ cloths from the paint store. They lied to me. They left little linty bits when I used them to apply the wax. Luckily the little bits seemed to rub off when I buffed. Ugh. I hate when cloths lie.

Waxing is something I want to learn more about. As I said above, I just spread the wax on with my (supposedly) lint-free cloth, let it dry as per the instructions, and then buffed it off. Next time I really want to give the wax brush and try and then I will have a better tutorial for y’all on how to apply wax best.

I must say that the finish came out incredible despite my deceptive non-lint-free cloths – the sheen is amazing and I can’t believe how well it has held up already after a few weeks of use by a little boy.

So I think it turned out pretty amazing. Beautiful and bold and perfect for our boys’ room. What do you think? Do you like my flag choice??

So don’t forget to come by on Monday for the rest of the Be Bold Projects by this fabulous group of bloggers:

Coming soon I’m hosting a giveaway sponsored by Country Chic Paint – so you can win the chance to try out Country Chic Paint for yourself! Maybe you can even do a BOLD transformation?!?

Do you have any painting projects planned? Have you worked with chalk paints before? Waxed furniture? Questions, hints or tips??

Thanks for reading. And remember my housie friends, HOME isn’t built in a day. Enjoy the journey.

This is not a sponsored post but I did receive some Country Chic paint products to try out in exchange for my 100% honest opinion. I really enjoyed working with it and hope to do some more projects with Country Chic in the future.

I may link up at some of these fabulous places below, for more info check out housie parties:

What an Amazing idea :))
you just inspired me with great ideas to make over the drawer dresser that I bought for my son’s room…. it has been taking me quite sometime to figure out what to do to change that boring brown colour. Thank you 😀

Krista…Oh my goodness….This hits home. I am born and raised in Iceland so naturally I love this! I also have a DIY blog and a FB page where I intend to share this fantastic project!
Thanks for sharing
Bryn

Gorgeous, Krista! I am so far behind on my email, but my new computer is up and running, so I’m going to hang out here a while and catch up on what I’ve missed. This was an unbelievable score for $10! Love it!!

I agree with the above comment from Cindy, it is fabulous! I love that you incorporated your family’s heritage into the design as well! I picked up a very helpful tip from ‘Sophia’s’ a while ago. Using ‘shop cloths’ are a great alternative to the lying lint free cloths… I’ve had that experience myself, as well as with the t-shirts that are suppose to be lint free…. not my old ones anyways! You can find them in almost every hardware store in Canada, as well as Costco if you have one near by. Beautiful, Krista job!

Wow, this looks great! I have always had a thing for flags – I remember doing a huge project just on flags in middle school. I think I liked the graphic design aspect. And I absolutely love that this flag has meaning to your family. This room is really coming together!

That looks TOO COOL Krista!! Great score on the dresser, it’s like it was meant to be! That “midnight sky” looks great on it, what a rich colour and it goes so well with the “devotion” and “simplicity”.

Krista, I think this is my favorite of all the projects you’ve done. It looks absolutely fabulous. And absolutely perfect for a room specially geared to two little boys. (Especially 2 little boys with Icelandic blood) Grandma Bjornson would be so proud!!!!!

Krista – amazing is an understatement! This is a fabulous transformation and it just looks fabulous! Wow! I really need to get over my fear and try to re-do something – I certainly have enough pieces right in my house that are screaming for a makeover! 🙂 This is so great, I love it! Pinning! Hope you have a fabulous Friday!